Paint Love believes art empowers young people and strengthens communities.
Our programs help schools and organizations bring more art to more kids.
Paint Love provides tailored art workshops and unique creative outlets for youth.
We partner with nonprofit and educational organizations and directly with families to teach the arts as a tool for social responsibility, self-awareness, regulation, empathy, and more. We believe creation, coupled with imaginative play and movement, is the best way for young people to process experiences.
Paint Love's programs increase the capacity of our partners by planning, orchestrating, and providing supplies. Our programs are open to all, which allows us to provide a significant portion of our services to under resourced agencies and populations. Paint Love’s projects are led by professional artists, overseen by Paint Love staff, and manned with volunteers so there is no extra strain on our partners.
Paint Love's programs empower youth through art. Our programming is open to all, but designed with kids who have faced trauma or adversity in mind.
Studies show that prolonged and unbuffered exposure to stress, including trauma and living in poverty, impacts kids’ developing brains and can have a permanent effect on cognitive ability, physical and mental health, and academic achievement.
Access to arts education is shown to reduce stress and anxiety, build critical skills, and close the academic achievement gap.
HOW OUR PROGRAMMING IS UNIQUE
A Caring, Safe Space
Everything we do is a means of supporting kids facing difficult circumstances. We chose art because we believe art is truly transformational, art has therapeutic qualities, and art is a tool that can allow students to express themselves beyond the time we spend with them. Art is our tool, but love is our main priority.
Foundation of Excellence
Paint Love's programs have a foundation of excellence and strive to present something to students that they haven’t experienced before. We lean toward fine art rather than crafts, as low-income students often have less exposure to fine arts and fewer mental health resources.
Intentionality
We work to incorporate themes like: belonging, interconnectedness, expression, and collaboration into every project.
Trauma-Informed
In our model, this means maintaining an understanding of all the ways experiencing trauma can impact youth, their behavior, development, and even creativity. We meet kids where they are and invite them into the creative process so they can have a positive, fun, and meaningful experience.
Abstract Portraits
Artist Maria Korol led youth in creating abstract portraits on wood panels. Individually, the pieces are special and unique, but when displayed together, they showcase the incredible diversity of the Clarkson community.
Better Together
Projects that span collaboratively across grades allow students to interact with older and younger kids they might not ordinarily get to work with.
Covenant House Mural
Collaborative art projects give kids the opportunity to work toward something collectively, problem solving and creating as a team, and communicating their ideas effectively to be understood by others.
Farm to Table Mural
Paint Love founder Julie McKevitt helped the Garden Club at Dowell Elementary School create a collaborative mural of farm fresh fruits and veggies for their cafeteria!
Gratitude Journals
Projects focused on thankfulfulness can have a particularly positive impact on young people like the kids we serve, by wiring their brains to always be on the look out for things that are good.
Paper Mache Balloons
When they set their balloons down to dry, we loved seeing the kids’ colorful creations all around the room. The project was such a creative way to foster self-love in the campers. The hot air balloons remind us that positivity lifts us up while negativity drags us down.
Want to partner with us?
Apply for our programming!
